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Calls for the resignation of Rahul Mamkoottathil as MLA had grown louder after a new audio clip, purportedly a conversation between him and a woman whom he allegedly abused and made pregnant, surfaced.
The male voice in the audio, aired by the Reporter channel, speaks rudely to a woman chastising her for not aborting her pregnancy. During the conversation he is also heard issuing threats to the woman.
In the audio, the woman is heard saying: “Why are you saying that it should be terminated, even without my permission…Did I ask you to take up the responsibility?” The woman, during the course of the conversation, says she loves the child and will manage it on her own. “I can bring up the child without your support, I will not come to you,” she says when the man’s voice, considered to be that of Rahul, forces her to rethink.
The male voice, purportedly Rahul’s, counters: “It is not about permission. You are saying this because you do not understand the consequences..” He also asks her questions like “How will this child grow up?” and accuses her of thinking only about herself. “Have you thought about the consequences? What craziness are you doing? This will affect my life. My life will be destroyed,” he says.
When the male voice expresses the desire to meet her, the woman says: “I know you're not coming to see me out of love. I know that very well. You just want to relieve your tension. For that, I am just an object. Are you going to poison me or something?
The male voice then chillingly responds: “If I wanted to kill you, how many seconds do you think it would take?”. The woman says: “Then just do it... just kill me. That's the safest thing for you to do.
“If I wanted to kill you, how much time would I need…” the male voice asks again.
“And then you would just walk away like a smartass? Do whatever you want. If you want to kill me, just kill me,” says the woman.
The allegations against Rahul recently flared up after actor and former journalist Rini Ann George alleged that a young politician from Kerala sent her offensive messages and invited her to a hotel room.
On August 21, Rahul resigned from all organisational positions in the Congress after the party leadership asked him to step down after senior leaders and Youth Congress members demanded action.
Rahul, however, denied that the party forced him out. Announcing his resignation from the Youth Congress president post on August 21, he told reporters, “There are no complaints against me. No one has named me and said that I forced an abortion…I am resigning as Youth Congress state president, not because I was wrong, but because my colleagues should not have to spend their time defending me.”
Senior Congress leader TN Prathapan on Saturday, August 23 said the allegations against Rahul are serious and that public servants should be blemish-free in both their public and private lives.